Arduino Cookbook, 2nd Edition

Chapter 18. Using the Controller Chip Hardware

18.0. Introduction

The Arduino platform simplifies programming by providing easy-to-use function calls to hide complex, low-level hardware functions. But some applications need to bypass the friendly access functions to get directly at hardware, either because that’s the only way to get the needed functionality or because higher performance is required. This chapter shows how to access and use hardware functions that are not fully exposed through the documented Arduino language.

Note

Changing register values can change the behavior of some Arduino functions (e.g., millis). The low-level capabilities described in this chapter require care, attention, and testing if you want your code to function correctly.

Registers

Registers are variables that refer to hardware memory locations. They are used by the chip to configure hardware functions or for storing the results of hardware operations. The contents of registers can be read and written by your sketch. Changing register values will change the way the hardware operates, or the state of something (such as the output of a pin). Some registers represent a numerical value (the number a timer will count to). Registers can control or report on hardware status; for example, the state of a pin or if an interrupt has occurred. Registers are referenced in code using their names—these are documented in the data sheet for the microcontrollers. Setting a register to a wrong value usually results in a sketch ...